As I trudged to the car with cold, wet feet from leaking waders, I thought about how much I dislike waders.
Don’t get me wrong, the poor maintenance and the pair I’d chosen to tote along that day were my own doing, and I really couldn’t have waded a mountain river on New Year’s morning without waders of some sort. Even when they keep completely dry, I simply don’t like the extra bulk and weight waders add or having to worry about stepping too deep.
Some people really don’t like getting pants, shoes and socks wet, and they wear waders year-round if they think they even might be stepping into the water. They reasonably like to just peel off the wet layer at day’s end and be fully dry. Some also seem to like fully gearing up to fish. Rocking waders, boots, staff, net and a vest loaded with gizmos and flies or lures just goes with stream fishing.
I’m the opposite. I’ll wear waders for true winter stream fishing or wading a big, cold tailwater, but if I can stand wading wet, that’s what I choose. I like to travel light and keep things as simple as possible.
Tending to Mending
I do need to do some wader repair. I own several pairs of different sorts, and a handful of them have leaks in one or both feet. At some point — probably this summer — I need to turn my them all inside out and fill them with water to find and repair the leaks and get rid of any pairs that are genuinely beyond repair.
I do own a few pairs of waders that I know don’t leak. None are my favorites, though. One is a fully neoprene pair with built-in boots. Beyond being a bit big for me, that pair is heavy and bulky — although less so than an insulated pair of duck hunting waders that also doesn’t have good traction for walking stream beds.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, some very old rubber waders have zero insulation value. They do keep me dry, but even without the tire patch from when I tore them many years ago, they are beyond ugly.
Soon our streams will reach a point where I can fish without waders, but in the meantime, I need to figure out which pair to wear next time I need some. I know it won’t be the pair I wore New Year’s morning!
Fishing on Foot 